Dolby promoted himself as a kind of mad scientist, an egghead that had successfully harnessed the power of synthesizers and samplers, using them to make catchy pop and electro-funk. Before he launched his solo career, Dolby had already worked as a studio musician, technician, and songwriter. After starting out as a teenaged live sound man, mixing The Fall, The Members and others using a PA he built himself, he formed the arty post-punk band Camera Club (also known as Bruce Woolley & the Camera Club) with Bruce Woolley, Geoff Downes, Trevor Horn and Matthew Seligman. Within a year, he had left the group and joined Lene Lovich’s backing band and gave her his song "New Toy", which became a British hit in 1981. That same year, he released his first solo single, "Urges", on the English independent label Armageddon. By the autumn, he had signed with Parlophone and released "Europa and the Pirate Twins", which nearly cracked the UK Top 40.
Dolby started playing synthesizer on sessions for other artists in 1982. That year, he played keyboards on Def Leppard’s Pyromania and Joan Armatrading’s Walk Under Ladders. His most distinctive session credit is that keyboard line after the chorus on Foreigner’s "Waiting for a Girl Like You". In that eventful summer, Dolby also collaborating with New York rappers Whodini to create "Magic’s Wand" – a pivotal early hip hop track (the first rap single to shift 1 million copies), and it also single-handedly started the new jack swing movement.
Even with all of these achievements, 1982 was most noteworthy for the release of Dolby’s first solo album, The Golden Age of Wireless, in the summer of 1982, the landmark album reaching number 13. "Windpower", the first single from the record, became his first Top 40 UK hit in the late summer. Other cuts from the album include "The Airwaves", and "One of Our Submarines", a meditation on the futility of empire.
In January of 1983, Dolby released an EP, Blinded by Science, which includes what would become his most well-known track, "She Blinded Me with Science" featuring a cameo vocal appearance by the notorious British eccentric Magnus Pike, who also appeared in the song’s video. "She Blinded Me with Science" was a minor hit in England, but the EP and the single became a major American hit in 1983, thanks to MTV’s heavy airplay of the video. Eventually, the song reached number five on the US charts and it was included on a resequenced and reissued version of The Golden Age of Wireless, which peaked at number 13 in America.
The Flat Earth, Dolby's second album, appeared in early 1984, and harkens back to a time when songs mattered more than the video, even as MTV was discovering its strength. Opening with "Dissidents", conjuring up images of blacklisted authors and ugly snow, gray from oppression, with Matthew Seligman’s bass at the fore, lavish, growling, popping through octaves, funk-a-fied and twinkling with harmonics throughout the album. The title track is an R&B daydream of piano and Motown stabs of rhythm guitar. "Screen Kiss" has a similarly ethereal quality, and the lyrics are lush with imagery. The cover of Dan Hicks’ 1967 "I Scare Myself" is a balmy jazz club cocktail – faithfully nostalgic, right down to a bittersweet trombone solo from Peter Thomas. "Hyperactive" is one part bizarre to two parts infectious; guest vocalist Adele Bertei fuels the fire to what was already destined to be a memorable diversion beyond the reach of Top 40. The single became Thomas’ biggest UK hit, peaking at number 17.
During 1985, Dolby collaborated with artists including Stevie Wonder, Dusty Springfield and Herbie Hancock; and notched up some more high-concept production credits. George Clinton's Some of My Best Jokes Are Friends, Prefab Sprout’s Steve McQueen, and Joni Mitchell’s Dog Eat Dog were all midwifed by Dolby, who also was musical director for David Bowie at Live Aid. Also in 1985, he began composing film scores, starting with Fever Pitch. In 1986, he composed the scores for Gothic and Howard the Duck, for which he credited himself as Dolby's Cube. (That credit led to a lawsuit from the Dolby Labs, who eventually prohibited the musician from using the name "Dolby" in conjunction with any other name than "Thomas.")
Aliens Ate My Buick, Dolby's long-delayed third album, appeared in 1988 to a mixed reaction, although "Airhead" became a minor British hit. That same year, Dolby married actress Kathleen Beller. For the rest of the late 80s and early 90s, Dolby continued to score films, producing and building his own computer equipment.
1992’s Astronauts and Heretics, features guest stars such as Eddie Van Halen, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and Ofra Haza. The album opens with "I Love You Goodbye", one of Thomas’ most evocative songs, and ends with "Beauty of a Dream" which is also a contender for that honour. Highlights found inbetween include "Cruel" (a duet with Fairground Attraction’s Eddie Reader), "I Live in a Suitcase" and "Close But No Cigar".
The following year, Dolby founded the computer software company Headspace in Silicon Valley, releasing The Virtual String Quartet as its first program, and also pioneered technology for music on mobile phones. For the rest of the 90s, Headspace occupied most of Dolby's time and energy. In 1994, he released The Gate to the Mind’s Eye, a soundtrack to the animated short film Mind’s Eye. Also that year, Capitol released the greatest-hits collection, Retrospectacle.
Thirteen years after Astronauts and Heretics, Dolby returned to live performance in 2006 with his solo Sole Inhabitant tour, which covered North America and the UK, with Thomas recreating the highlights of his earlier work from scratch, with a camera mounted like a miner’s lamp on his head, and a big screen showing the view from the artist, turning what would be a fairly dull one-man-and-a-rack-of-synths into a fascinating audio visual experience and an unintended masterclass for music technology students.
UK indie label Invisible Hands Music released a CD and DVD box set recorded on the Sole Inhabitant tour. These fresh and modern reinterpretations of Thomas’ work to date precedes a new studio album due in 2008, which is as-yet untitled, but does include a song about Britney’s ex Kevin Federline (“K-Fed”) who used an uncleared sample from "She Blinded Me with Science" and did not respond to legal approaches until a ‘cease-and-desist’ was posted in the comments field of his MySpace page. That song is called "My Karma Hit Your Dogma", and bodes well for a mighty return to form, combining Thomas’ humour and intelligence with a unique musical vision.
2011 saw Dolby get busy by returning with a new studio album A Map of the Floating City on 29 October. The album is broken down into three genres of Urbanoia's tales of city experiences; Amerikana as Dolby's take on his years living in America and it's roots music; and Oceanea: songs of life by the sea in his home country of England. The music was debuted first as download EPs to Dolby's online community and then previewed by a transmedia interactive game also called the FloatingCity.com.
Thomas Dolby is taking the music back on tour as a solo artist and with varying line-ups of bands, doing two tours of the UK in 2011, and has his first trip to Australia in February 2012 followed by dates in Japan. In March Dolby kicks off the Time-Capsule.tv tour at the SxSW Festival in Austin playing dates in USA and Canada through April. He will have a trailer parked at venues on his tour where you can produce a 30 second video offering words of wisdom to whoever will be walking the earth in the future. Dolby wants to give people a chance to “explain to an alien visitor what went wrong with our civilization. Our species may not be around on this planet much longer, so you might as well leave a welcome message for the next guys.”
One Of Our Submarines
Thomas Dolby Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Seems she ran aground on manoeuvres
One of our submarines
A hungry heart
To regulate their breathing
One more night
the Winter Boys are freezing in their spam time
Along the northern seaboard
And down below
The Winter Boys are waiting for the storm
Bye-bye empire, empire bye-bye
Shallow water, channel and tide
And I can trace my history
Down one generation to my home
In one of our submarines
One of our submarines
The red light flicker, sonar weak
Air valves hissing open
Half her pressure blown away
Flounder in the ocean
See the Winter Boys
Drinking heavy water from a stone
Bye-bye empire, empire bye-bye
Shallow water, channel and tide
Bye-bye empire, empire bye-bye
Tired illusion drown in the night
And I can trace my history
Down one generation to my home
In one of our submarines
One of our submarines
One of our submarines
One of our submarines is missing tonight
Seems she ran aground on manoeuvres
One of our submarines
The song, "One Of Our Submarines" by Thomas Dolby, seems to be a sombre tribute to a submarine that has gone missing. The initial lines of the song, "One of our submarines is missing tonight / Seems she ran aground on manoeuvres" sets the tone for the melancholy account of the incident. Dolby then goes on to describe the situation of those aboard the submarine, painting a picture of their struggles and grim fate, "A hungry heart / To regulate their breathing / One more night / The Winter Boys are freezing in their spam time / The Baltic moon / Along the northern seaboard / And down below / The Winter Boys are waiting for the storm".
The chorus, "Bye-bye empire, empire bye-bye / Shallow water, channel and tide" seems to be a commentary on the fleeting nature of power and the ultimate insignificance of human endeavours in the face of the vastness of the sea. Dolby's personal connection to the story is revealed in the lines, "And I can trace my history / Down one generation to my home / In one of our submarines", adding a layer of emotional depth to the lyrics.
Overall, "One Of Our Submarines" is a poignant account of an unfortunate incident, and Dolby's storytelling and lyrical prowess make for a moving tribute to the crew who lost their lives.
Line by Line Meaning
One of our submarines is missing tonight
The singer is informing the listeners that one of their submarines is missing.
Seems she ran aground on manoeuvres
It appears that the missing submarine ran aground while conducting military exercises.
One of our submarines
This line serves as a repetition of the first line to emphasize that one of their submarines is missing.
A hungry heart
This is a metaphorical reference to the sailors on board the submarine who are longing for something or someone.
To regulate their breathing
The sailors need to control their breathing in order to conserve oxygen in the submarine's limited air supply.
One more night
The sailors are waiting for one more night to pass, hoping to be rescued.
the Winter Boys are freezing in their spam time
The 'Winter Boys' is a reference to the sailors who are suffering from cold temperatures while stuck in the submarine.
The Baltic moon
The moon is shining over the Baltic Sea where the submarine is located.
Along the northern seaboard
The submarine is located off the coast of a northern country.
And down below
This line refers to the lower levels of the submarine where the sailors are trapped.
The Winter Boys are waiting for the storm
The sailors are awaiting a storm that could exacerbate their situation and further endanger their lives.
Bye-bye empire, empire bye-bye
This line suggests that the nation's glory and power are fading away.
Shallow water, channel and tide
The submarine may have gotten stuck in shallow waters due to the changing tides in the channel where it was stationed.
And I can trace my history
The singer is reflecting on his personal connection to the submarine and how it relates to his family history.
Down one generation to my home
The singer has a familial connection to the submarine and its crew members.
The red light flicker, sonar weak
These are technical details hinting at the dire state of the submerged vessel.
Air valves hissing open
The leaking air valves on the submarine are making a distinct sound that warns of impending danger.
Half her pressure blown away
The submarine's internal pressure has been compromised, putting the crew at risk of losing breathable air.
Flounder in the ocean
The submarine is sinking or struggling to stay afloat in the ocean, adding to the crew's peril.
See the Winter Boys
The sailors on board the submarine are referred to again as the Winter Boys.
Drinking heavy water from a stone
This line is a metaphor for the sailors trying to survive on meager resources and facing a hopeless situation.
Tired illusion drown in the night
Another metaphorical line suggesting that the illusions and false hopes of the past are fading away, leaving the sailors stranded and helpless in the dark of night.
One of our submarines
The last line is a repetition of the first and third lines, wrapping up the story of the missing submarine.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Thomas Dolby
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@betsybrains
I'm born in 1966, and in the U.S.
It took me decades to understand that,
besides some minor Cold War nervousness,
WWII didn't impact (scar) us over here.
They placated us here statesside with TV dinners and any products containing space-age polymers.
Scars make good art.
How do you thank a fella like Mr. Dolby for his work?
Folks, don't ask him about the Nokia ringtone synthesizer situation.
It'd probably make him blush.
Oops gotta hang up, there's gonna be a cloudburst here.
@DeadMikeConcertVideos
July 10, after decades, I finally get to witness the brilliance of Thomas Dolby live in houston! Counting down the days to 7/10/2024 and finally hearing this. I pray he still plays this, my fave song.
@timepoet77
Thomas Dolby embodied the best of the 80s: a blend of electronic synth pop with organic, real instruments and intelligent lyrics reflecting his personal outlook on the world, as seen through the eyes of a young man both at home in and yet not of this earth.
@kevinmcgiffin10
So many people used to respond " who is thomas dolby " when i told them i listened to him. Boy were they clueless.
@ecomarinebd
a hyper hyperbole!
@Caracajou
One of my all time favorite musicians. This song is my favorite of his.
@grinja73
Not to mention a much needed dose of humour!
@anthonytimmons9328
I remember when this song came out, I worked the graveyard shift in a waterbed factory in Moundhouse NV, every night like clock work on the way to work, the radio station that we listened to would play this at the same time every friggin night, listening to Thomas Dolby while driving through the Nevada desert after midnight was a very surreal experience, surreal and haunting. Beautiful, well crafted piece of music, pure genius.
@AlvaSudden
Good story. 80's music was such an improvement over 70's music.
@alisonleaman333
Ah - so that's why Lake Mead is running dry. It's all those water beds 🙂
@mrq127
I’m surprised this song isn’t getting more streams right now